Lando Norris admitted he had made “too many mistakes” as he could only take third on the grid for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, behind McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’s George Russell.

After his win in the season opener in Melbourne last weekend hopes were high that Norris could repeat his dominant performance and really establish himself as the title favourite this season. However, the 25-year-old has struggled in Shanghai, where rivals such as Russell have piled on the pressure by touting him as the overwhelming favourite this season.

Russell told reporters on Thursday that McLaren’s car had a bigger advantage than even Red Bull enjoyed in their most dominant season in 2023 when they won 21 out of 22 races. Norris responded by saying it was just “mind games” on Russell’s part and he was “not bothered”.

But the Briton was only able to take sixth on the grid for Saturday’s sprint race after a messy sprint qualifying session on Friday. And he then went backwards in the sprint race itself on Saturday morning, dropping three places on the opening lap and only managing to recover to eighth for a solitary point.

Norris looked to be finding some form in the main qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, topping Q1 and Q2. But he could not produce a clean lap when it mattered in Q3, bailing on his final push lap as Russell brilliantly managed to insert himself between the two McLarens.

The abiding image of the day was of Norris, in the fading sun, gazing up at the big screens announcing Piastri as the pole-sitter. He could well have his hands full this year with the fast-improving Australian, for whom this was a first pole for a grand prix after two sprint poles.

“Oscar has shown great pace, I definitely haven’t,” Norris admitted bluntly, adding that he had made “too many errors”.

“It was a much better job than we did [in sprint qualifying] yesterday. Third is still a good result. I felt more comfortable today. But it was still too many mistakes. I’ve not done the best job.

“Whenever we struggle with front graining, it’s something I struggle with a lot. It’s something I’m not strong enough in. I’ve got a long night ahead of me trying to work out what I can do differently. We’ve never doubted it’s the quickest car but it can be a bit feisty at times.”

‘It just all came alive’

Norris added: “Oscar deserves it today. His first ever pole – congratulations to him.”

After Norris bailed on his final push lap, Russell managed to beat his compatriot’s time by 0.07sec. Mercedes had been struggling to get their tyres in the right operating window but Russell said his car “came alive” on his final lap.

“It feels incredible to be honest,” he said. “It was one of the hardest quali sessions that I have done in a long, long time. I did something totally different on that last lap and it just all came alive and the lap was awesome.”

Behind Russell and Norris, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took fourth on the grid, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who earlier took his first win for Ferrari in the sprint race.

The seven-time world champion continued his encouraging weekend by beating his team-mate Charles Leclerc by 0.094secs in qualifying and will hope to move forwards from there.

But perhaps the performance of the day came from French rookie Isack Hadjar who took seventh on the grid for Racing Bulls after the bitter disappointment of Melbourne when he crashed on the formation lap and had to be consoled by Hamilton’s father Anthony.

Hadjar finished ahead of the second Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli. Racing Bulls team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was ninth, while Williams’ Alex Albon completed the top 10.

The strong performance of the Racing Bulls heaped even more misery onto Liam Lawson. Verstappen’s new team-mate qualified 20th and last for Sunday’s race, having done the same thing in sprint qualifying on Friday.

Lawson told Telegraph Sport on Friday that he expected to be stronger at the next race in Suzuka, but the pressure on the New Zealander is growing all the time.

“It’s been a tough day in the office for him today,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted on Sky Sports. “We will have a good look at it and go through it and obviously try and give him the best car we can tomorrow.”

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08:57 AM GMT

Race start time tomorrow

The Chinese Grand Prix begins at 7am GMT and we will be here for all the build-up from around 5.45am. 

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08:55 AM GMT

Hamilton speaks about unbalanced Ferrari

“We made just a couple of small changes, tweaks to the car and it really put the car on a knife-edge. I think the wind put up a little bit as well so the car was just trickier to drive, harder to put laps together. Not one particular thing. You want a car that is balance, at the moment from one corner to the next the car has a different balance. 

“We made a change and the high speed was overbalanced. You want a car that you can rely on and when you attack the corners you know it’s going to stay with you instead of lock up and go on or snap into oversteer. When it’s unpredictable you’ve got no hope.”

Leclerc, meanwhile, says the potential and overall grip was “just not there”. He thinks they are just about three tenths off the pace of the leaders but that Hamilton did a very good job in the sprint qualifying and race. 

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08:47 AM GMT

Horner on Lawson

“It’s been a tough day in the office for him today. We will have a good look at it and go through it and obviously try and give him the best car we can tomorrow.”

Ted Kravitz, on Sky Sports F1, puts it to him that they did not pay off Sergio Pérez for this. Horner flat bats it away with repeating the same line. 

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08:43 AM GMT

How can Verstappen win the race tomorrow?

“They all retire in front of me? We are not fast enough. I think the lap was alright just very difficult to get a consistent balance out of it every lap every corner. It was tough but we are working on it. I feel confident to attack corners but sometimes my input is not what I am getting back from my car, right. That makes it difficult to nail every corner. Then in the race when it’s not doing that you are probably degrading your tyres harder than the cars around you and that is not good.”

“I feel in the best shape driving wise compared to even the years before. I go into qualifying, I am nailing the laps, doing a good job. But when the base pace is lacking, there is not much you can do.”

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08:32 AM GMT

Antonelli and Hadjar start P7 and P8 tomorrow

Antonelli says he was not on top of the tyres: “I think I struggled to understand the warm-up of the tyre to be honest. I struggled to find and extract the maximum grip. I think the qualifying was not as clean as I wanted but now we look forward to tomorrow.”

Isack Hadjar, is the best-of-the-rest outside the top four teams and out-qualified Tsunoda. Let’s hope he can bring the car home in the points tomorrow to bounce back from crashing out on the formation lap in Melbourne last week. The RB looks a good car here.

“Actually I am really proud of the team. I can’t believe how good the car is performing at the moment. Really happy with what I have underneath. Definitely these guys, realistically are out of reach on the long run but if I manage to nail that start then I am in a good position to score my first points, so that’s the target.”

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08:25 AM GMT

Toto Wolff on Russell’s front row

“We were struggling to get the tyres into the window and finally on the ultimate lap he just got it right. It’s also so tight in the times, it’s a discovery mission.”

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08:24 AM GMT

Oscar’s pole celebration

WE LOVE IT, OSCAR! 🧡#McLaren | #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/MyrD73NQXr

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 22, 2025

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08:19 AM GMT

Fifth is obviously not where Hamilton wanted to be

But in the context of the last seven days (forget this morning and yesterday) that is a decent effort. Within three tenths of Piastri, very close to Verstappen and Norris and ahead of Leclerc. He could well be an influence in the race. 

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08:12 AM GMT

Piastri on his maiden grand prix pole

“Q3 just found a lot of pace. Q1 and Q2 I was generally struggling and the car came alive in Q3 and I think I came alive in Q3. Happy with what I did in the end, even still the laps were a little scruffy. I’m just pumped. Very happy. 

“It’s a lot of fun. With the new surface it’s extremely grippy which for us it’s the best feeling in the world. The only thing that comes with that is when you lose grip it bites. When you hook it up it feels pretty mega. “

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08:10 AM GMT

Russell on his front row position

“It feels incredible to be honest. It was one of the hardest quali sessions that I have done in a long, long time. Did something totally different on that last lap and it just all came alive and the lap was awesome. Just so happy to be in P2. The last one was a bit of a roll of the dice. I had a big moment at turn one and it just all came together. I knew it was a good lap, but to see that I was between the McLarens... just buzzing for tomorrow.”

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08:08 AM GMT

Norris seems OK with third

“Always disappointed if I’m not on pole but Oscar deserves it today. Happy for him, his first pole in Formula One. Just a couple of mistakes again. The car was feeling better today, I felt a lot more comfortable with the car. A step in the right direction, especially from yesterday... a much better direction that we are going in. Not too disappointed. It’s quick enough, we never doubted that it’s the quickest car it can just be a little feisty tat times. It’s not that... it’s just mistakes from my side.”

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08:04 AM GMT

Q3 - Classification

1. PIA 1:30.641
2. RUS +0.082
3. NOR +0.152
4. VER +0.176
5. HAM +0.286
6. LEC +0.380
7. HAD +0.438
8. ANT +0.462
9. TSU +0.997
10. ALB +1.065

My prediction wasn’t too far off. Got first, third and fourth correct. It’s just it was Russell and not Hamilton in second. 

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08:03 AM GMT

Q3 - PIASTRI TAKES POLE!

Hamilton stays fourth but Piastri improves to hammer home his pace! This surely will not be beaten...

Leclerc still to cross the line. How is he looking? Not brilliant in the middle sector. He is sixth currently and stays there... Tsunoda pits. 

What about Russell? He gets onto the front row! Just 0.082sec behind Piastri! What a great effort. What a brilliant lap that was. Unexpected. 

“I think that was the hairpin of my life,” Piastri says. “I just had a little scream in my helmet,” he adds. 

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08:01 AM GMT

Q3 - Verstappen loses time in the middle sector

Norris too, he’s two tenths down. Has he made a mistake? Will be hard for him to improve, unless he is saving his tyres. 

Verstappen stays third, imporoves his time but not his position. 

Seventh for Hadjar. Norris aborts his lap and comes into the pits!

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08:00 AM GMT

Q3 - Final runs under way

Verstappen is the first man to go. What is his first sector like? Decent, 0.039sec faster than Piastri’s previous best. Norris is 0.024sec faster than that mark... Hamilton about a tenth off. 

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07:58 AM GMT

Q3 - Racing Bulls have fresh softs here

They did not in the first runs. Would expect them to improve significantly and maybe feature in the top six here. 

In worse news for the team, Hadjar gets in the way of Verstappen in the pit lane. Not his fault but that will be a fine for the team. 

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07:56 AM GMT

Q3 - Order after the first runs

1. PIA 1:30.703
2. NOR +0.090
3. VER +0.222
4. HAM +0.224
5. RUS +0.281
6. LEC +0.337
7. HAD +0.745
8. TSU +0.935
9. ALB +1.003
10. ANT (NO TIME)
11. OCO (NO TIME)

Antonelli has his lap time deleted for running wide at the final corner. Seems a bit harsh considering he ran into the gravel and lost time anyway. 

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07:54 AM GMT

Q3 - Piastri into first and stays there!

0.222sec ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton with a much better lap, just 0.002sec behind Verstappen and in third. Leclerc cannot beat him, a tenth behind. 

What can Norris do? Second! Just under a tenth behind Norris to make it a McLaren 1-2. 

Russell then moves into fifth, splitting the Ferraris. 

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07:53 AM GMT

Q3 - Racing Bulls with fine pace still

Verstappen’s first sector looks good. That is until Piastri beats it by nearly two tenths...

Verstappen with a 1:30.925 across the line fastest. Antonelli is 0.760sec behind that after a messy final sector. Hadjar goes second on used tyres. Tsunoda cannot beat him. 

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07:51 AM GMT

Q3 - Russell overtakes Verstappen coming out of the pits

Well, around the outside of turn one anyway. Earlier I predicted Hamilton to qualify on the front row. Doesn’t look all that likely at present. 

Anyway, the first flying laps of Q3 are beginning. 

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07:49 AM GMT

Q3 begins!

This is what it is all about, though. Wouldn’t be surprised if Ferrari came back into it a bit more in this session. 

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07:46 AM GMT

Hadjar is happy with getting into Q2 in fourth

At least I think he is. “I clearly felt the change. Argh! I could have pushed more,” he says. 

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07:46 AM GMT

What is going on with the Ferrari?

I do not know. Baffling lack of pace so far in this session after being good, in Hamilton’s hands at least, this weekend. 

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07:44 AM GMT

Q2 - Classification

These men are through. 

1. NOR 1:30.787
2. VER +0.355
3. PIA +0.413
4. HAD +0.466
5. TSU +0.473
6. RUS +0.520
7. LEC +0.663
8. HAM +0.714
9. ANT +0.803
10. ALB +0.808

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07:43 AM GMT

Q2 ends - Norris fastest

Ocon, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Stroll and Sainz eliminated. Sainz struggling a bit with the qualifying in the Williams at the moment. 

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07:42 AM GMT

Q2 - Antonelli on the cusp...

Hadjar into fourth! The Racing Bulls has some real pace this weekend. Antonelli is in ninth so could do with finding a bit of time here to get through. It’s a good final corner but stays ninth and does not improve. Can anyone knock him out?

Alonso cannot, 13th. Sainz stays 15th. Antonelli is through. 

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07:40 AM GMT

Q2 - Hamilton with the fastest middle sector...

Norris has not gone out on track but should be very safe in that position. Antonelli has a problem with the “brake magic” mode on his Mercedes. 

Hamilton crosses the line but only sixth with a poor final sector. Seven-tenths off the pace. Leclerc goes ahead of him, just. 

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07:38 AM GMT

This is what happened with Lawson/Gasly in Q1

Liam was not happy with Pierre for jumping the queue 👀 pic.twitter.com/hQlJNniexQ

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 22, 2025

Anyway, the final runs of Q2 are under way. 

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07:36 AM GMT

Q2 - Order after the first runs

1. NOR 1:30.787
2. PIA +0.413
3. VER +0.447
4. RUS +0.520
5. TSU +0.638
6. ANT +0.803
7. HAM +0.830
8. ALB +0.834
9. LEC +0.852
10. HUL +0.952
    DROP ZONE:
11. STR
12. OCO
13. HAD
14. ALO
15. SAI

Fresh tyres on that run for the top three. Think most of the others were on used tyres, which explains some of the gaps.

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07:35 AM GMT

Q2 - What can Verstappen do?

It’s third, 0.447sec behind Norris. Hmmm. 

Liam Lawson is giving a response to his performance: 

“It’s just really tough, honestly the window is really small. That is known but honestly it’s not an excuse. I have got to get a handle of it. It’s a messy session and had we [not have had traffic] we might have been OK but it’s still not good enough. To be having those issues and that’s the reason why we get knocked out. 

“We should be fastest on our first lap. I just need to get on top of it. I think it’s just time. Unfortunately I don’t really have time. It’s just one of those things. To drive a Formula One car it takes 100 per cent confidence in what you are doing. The window is so small now that I just seem to miss it. 

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07:32 AM GMT

Q2 - Norris heads a McLaren 1-2

Tsunoda looking good again. He sets the fastest first sector of anyone. Antonelli sets a 1:31.590 but team-mate Russell beats that by 0.283sec. Hadjar moves fourth, half a second behind Russell. Sainz behind him and in sixth. Tsunoda splits the Mercedes cars but Piastri goes fastest of everyone only to be beaten by Norris by 0.413sec. 

Nothing much for Hamilton: sixth. Leclerc not much better: seventh. 

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07:28 AM GMT

Q2 begins!

A very encouraging session from the Racing Bulls there. Lawson the slowest of the four ‘Red Bull’ cars again. Slowest of everyone, in fact. How long will Red Bull’s patience last?

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07:26 AM GMT

Replays show Lawson was hampered

Well, he was trying to create a gap before his flying lap but was then overtaken by an impatient Gasly before the final corner. He then locked his right front slightly and sounded perplexed on the radio. Nothing really going right for him. 

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07:23 AM GMT

Q1 - Classification

These drivers are through. 

1. NOR 1:30.983
2. HAD +0.179
3. TSU +0.255
4. RUS +0.312
5. VER +0.441
6. ALB +0.520
7. LEC +0.596
8. PIA +0.608
9. SAI +0.645
10. ANT +0.693
11. HAM +0.707
12. ALO +0.736
13. OCO +0.893
14. HUL +0.938
15. STR +0.940

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07:21 AM GMT

Q1 ends - Drivers out

Gasly, Bearman, Doohan, Bortoleto, Lawson. 

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07:21 AM GMT

Q1 - Lawson is eliminated... again

Alonso moves up into sixth. Leclerc is rounding the final turn. He moves from 14th to second. Decent effort, 0.155sec off Verstappen’s time but Tsunoda beats Leclerc by 0.341sec! Russell into second.

Hadjar goes fastest but is then pipped by Norris. Track evolution strong here, obviously. Verstappen is not on the track but should be safe.

Lawson crosses the line in... 19th. Ouch. What an awful time he is having. Gasly out too. Bearman too in 17th.

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07:19 AM GMT

Q1 - Those final runs are under way

A few big names under pressure here

One last chance to get into Q2 #F1#ChineseGPpic.twitter.com/rNSfPJBwaz

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 22, 2025

Leclerc not pulling up any trees on his latest flyer. He is within a tenth of Verstappen with a good middle sector, though. Norris and Tsunoda looking quick. 

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07:16 AM GMT

Q1 - Order and gaps so far

1. VER 1:31.424
2. PIA +0.167
3. ANT +0.252
4. HAM +0.266
5. TSU +0.274
6. HAD +0.400
7. NOR +0.509
8. ALB +0.546
9. BEA +0.594
10. RUS +0.598

Leclerc now in 13th and in trouble here. 

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07:15 AM GMT

Q1 - Drivers in the drop zone

Ocon, Gasly, Sainz, Lawson, Doohan. 

Every time we switch to Lawson’s onboard the nose is pointing in one direction and the steering wheel in another. It looks a handful for him to drive. Obviously not the case for Verstappen. Or at least he can deal with it. 

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07:14 AM GMT

Q1 - Leclerc and Norris improve but without great laps

A competitive lap from Norris so far. Leclerc looks distant, though, but should improve his previous lap. He does that but is only 10th, six-tenths slower than Verstappen’s best time. 

Norris gets a bit twitchy in the final turn but goes only seventh, half a second down. 

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07:12 AM GMT

Q1 - A handy time from Tsunoda too

Fourth and fifth as it stands. Lawson sets a lap time that gets him into the top 15, but not for very long as Hulkenberg moves into the top eight. Norris yet to set a lap time and the one time he did set was not great. 

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07:11 AM GMT

Q1 - Eight minutes remain

Hulkenberg, Bearman, Leclerc, Norris and Lawson are in the drop zone. 

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07:10 AM GMT

Q1 - Excellent final sector from Verstappen

He goes fastest of all by 0.167sec from Piastri. Very good lap from Hadjar too, into fourth ahead of Russell. 

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07:08 AM GMT

Q1 - Order so far

1. PIA
2. HAM
3. RUS
4. ANT
5. GAS
6. OCO
7. HUL
8. BEA
9. LEC
10. BOR

Verstappen is two sectors into his first flying lap and is 0.143sec off Piastri at that point. 

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07:08 AM GMT

Q1 - Norris on used tyres

He goes fastest of all. Leclerc cannot trouble the top of the timesheets. We saw an onboard moment with Leclerc, see-sawing at his steering wheel after the final hairpin. Yes, he had a big lock up and ran wide so that would have cost him at least half a second. 

Anyway, Hamilton beats Norris, but Piastri also beats that by a small margin. Norris then has his lap time deleted. 

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07:06 AM GMT

Q1 - Ocon moves fastest

Then beaten by former team-mate Pierre Gasly. These aren’t really the lap times we should be paying attention to. The frontrunners are now setting their first laps. 

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07:05 AM GMT

Q1 - Right, let’s take a look at the lap times

Stroll with a 1:33.024 which is not quick. Hulkenberg and Bortoleto both beat that but Alonso, his team-mate, does not. 

Yellow flags as Jack Doohan has a spin somewhere but gets going again. 

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07:00 AM GMT

GREEN LIGHT! Q1 is go

A queue of drivers waiting for the light to go green with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin at the head of it. 

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06:59 AM GMT

Predictions, then?

I think McLaren will bounce back. Here’s my top four. 

1. PIA 2. HAM 3. NOR 4. VER

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06:55 AM GMT

Decent conditions still in China

Well, in this particular part of it. China is a big country. It cannot be nice weather everywhere. 

Welcome to a warm and sunny Shanghai 🌞

We've got qualifying coming up in 15 mins - don't go anywhere!#F1#ChineseGPpic.twitter.com/ysY5f5nLc6

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 22, 2025

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06:49 AM GMT

What have we actually learnt so far this weekend?

I think that it is so close that the small variables and driver and team performance can make a huge difference. Look at Ferrari’s turnaround. And Norris’s, too, in the other direction. 

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06:40 AM GMT

Norris rued his performance in the race

“I just had a bad first lap. I just had to run into the grass a bit and lost a couple of positions, then it was just difficult to do a lot. Yeah, quali didn’t help but I wasn’t very good today either. In the race I just felt dreadful.”

There did seem to be space when he ran onto the grass at turn six but it looked a bit of a strange one from where I was sitting. He will surely be in contention for pole position today. 

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06:29 AM GMT

Updated constructor standings

Just Alpine and Haas yet to score. Not sure either of them will get on the board here this weekend. Gasly has usually been a good bet in recent times for the French outfit. 

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06:26 AM GMT

How did Ferrari and Hamilton turn it around?

How did Lewis and Ferrari turn it around after Australia? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/I0jBF9Qdln

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 22, 2025

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06:22 AM GMT

We’ve also got each team’s raw pace

This shows, on average, how far each team is away from the fastest lap time of the weekend as a percentage. The fastest time of qualifying is shown as 100.000 per cent, so the lower number the better in this case. With a theoretical 1min40 (100 second) lap pole time, a lap time of 1min40.5sec would be half a per cent off and 1min41 would be one per cent off and so on.

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06:17 AM GMT

Time for some stats

Now we have had two qualifying sessions of the year (Australia GP and China sprint), it’s worth taking a quick look at some of the stats. First up is the average qualifying position of the drivers so far. Or at least the top 10. 

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06:07 AM GMT

Updated driver standings after the sprint

Norris retains his lead but is reeled in by Verstappen. Russell continues his solid job. Ferrari make progress and Tsunoda gets on the board, just out of shot here, in 11th. 

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06:00 AM GMT

Chinese GP sprint race - Full classification

1. HAM, 8pts
2. PIA, 7pts
3. VER, 6pts
4. RUS, 5pts
5. LEC, 4pts
6. TSU, 3pts
7. ANT, 2pts
8. NOR, 1pt
9. STR
10. ALO
11. ALB
12. GAS
13. HAD
14. LAW
15. BEA
16. OCO
17. SAI
18. BOR
19. HUL
20. DOO

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04:39 AM GMT

Good morning F1 fans

Welcome to our live coverage for qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. We come into the session on the back of Lewis Hamilton’s first victory for Ferrari. Yes, it was a sprint race and not a grand prix but it is still a significant moment. He started from pole (promising itself that he got it) and was never genuinely troubled in the race, putting in some excellent tyre management in high-degradation conditions. With that he took eight points and moved himself ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc in the standings. 

The big business is on the horizon, though. Given how difficult it was for drivers in dirty air in the 19-lap sprint race, qualifying will be perhaps even more critical than we were expecting. Who will be in the mix? Well, I would expect three teams to be in genuine competition: Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren. 

Mercedes might not be far off but I just have a doubt that they have the ultimate pace over one lap to challenge for the front row. George Russell has quietly gone about his business in those first four competitive sessions so far, qualifying fourth and finishing third in Melbourne and then qualifying and finishing fourth earlier today in Shanghai.  

Who would bet against a resurgent and revitalised Lewis Hamilton? His Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc had a fairly quiet sprint but I would expect him to bounce back in this session. Max Verstappen, who was third in the sprint, will surely be in the conversation. Lando Norris had a woeful sprint, dropping back from sixth to ninth before claiming a point for eighth, but should fine the pace. I would back McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to be ahead of him, though. He has looked strong all weekend and will be intent on making up for all of those lost points last weekend in Melbourne. 

It will also be a crucial session for the second Red Bull of Liam Lawson. The Kiwi has had a troubled start to his career at the team and has been a long way from the pace in all sessions. He showed some fight in the sprint but the reality was he was overtaking – robustly – slower cars. He needs to at least challenge Q3 if not getting into the top 10. Were he to qualify the fourth fastest Red Bull/Racing Bulls driver again this weekend then it looks a long way back already. 

Anyway, the action starts at 7am GMT, so let us take you through to that. 

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